Unfolding and change

“Thou canst disturb a flower without troubling a star.” — Francis Thompson

The insightful individual sees changes and opportunities — instead of problems and obstacles. With keen perception, he/she can turn difficult situations around. On another level, he/she feels a sense of peace and balance.

Some people appear to breeze through life effortlessly. Things seem to fall into place at the right time. Observers would surmise that they have a charmed life. It is not so simple.

Here are spiritual concepts to think about and practice:

1.) Assess your field. Eliminate what is not useful. Dream. As author Victoria Moran remarked, “Live splendidly.”

2.) Resolve the conflict between the heart and intellect. Society demands that we should be guided by logic. However, our instincts tell us to follow our heart. The heart has an agenda of its own.

3.) Shine. And allow other people to shine. Share the limelight. Remember that “shine” time is cyclical.

4.) Give up the “mountain.” Get rid of the issues, psychological blocks, and fears that compromise the mountain and burdens in our daily lives.

5.) Be discreet. Protect and conserve your power. “Become the sun” and be less of the satellite.

6.) Change with the seasons. Be in harmony with nature. And flow with the current. Live each day to the fullest.

7.) Learn the essence of selective complications. Eliminate possessions and habits that rob you of energy. This concept applies to toxic people, “frenemies” who drain you of emotional and material resources.

8.) Follow the universal laws of life written by Aldous Huxley  in his book Perennial Philosophy. They encompass the ageless wisdom that is part of every culture.

9.) The law of Karma. “What you do comes back to you.” This has many aspects.

– “No action is lost.” Nothing that we do is insignificant. A small act, a tiny pebble tossed into a pond has a ripple effect.

– Few events are random. “Thoughts create circumstances.” Our thoughts lay the foundation for the future.

– “Hate destroys the one who has it. Righteous indignation can be hospitality parading as virtue.” The Florentine poet Dante Alighieri referred to hate as “the first level of hell.”

– We are all connected. The law of connectivity means that we are important parts of a greater organism — the universe. Men are linked to one another, to life and nature. What we do affects the whole.

– Happiness comes from within. We cannot seek happiness and completion from someone else. Outer circumstances cannot make us happy.

– Love is an act of will. Not the emotion.

10.) Acknowledge and be grateful for your blessings.

11.) Cooperate with benevolence. Look for the good in yourself and around you.

12.) Seek balance between home and work, family, and friends.

Interior pursuits are as important as exterior endeavors.

13.) Be true to yourself.

14.) Grow through the hard times. During periods of reversal of fortunes, financial depression, or personal crisis, think of life as a cycle. Difficulties are transient, not permanent. Life has rhythmic cyclic patterns. Seek support from others and take action to survive the change.

15.) Build soul equity. The soul is the inner, animating essence. It needs trials and tedium to grow. One should learn, grow, expand the capacity to know and experience life. One should remember the lessons and apply that knowledge to future situations.

16.) Trust your instincts.

17.) Accept things as they are.

Happiness can be classified into two facets: Getting what you want. Wanting what you get.

A charmed life unfolds slowly.

It is the result of changes in one’s way of seeing, doing, accepting and appreciating things. It means making wise choices to make life better for others.

Maria Victoria Rufino is an artist, writer and businesswoman. She is president and executive producer of Maverick Productions.

mavrufino@gmail.com